The Hornets first-year general manager knows that has become a two-sided equation given Walker is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July and able to choose his next team. The 28-year-old Walker was an All-Star game starter this season and averaged a career-high 25.6 points per game, so he's expected to be hot commodity when the free agent market opens in July.

"I think this is a place that he wants to be and we'll do everything that we can to bring him back here," Kupchak said Friday. "But he is half of the equation."